Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Beginning in January 2005, a new start-up company at Central Michigan University will provide detection and diagnostic commercial testing services to a wide range of local and regional organizations, such as medical, clinical and veterinary offices, public health institutions, and the agricultural food industry.

MultiGEN Diagnostic Inc. is a subsidiary of Bio-ID Diagnostic Inc., a Saskatchewan-based firm that specializes in the development of new DNA-based technologies used for detection and diagnosis of microbes and biological threats. MultiGEN, which will be housed in CMU’s Health Professions Building, is the latest addition to a growing field of nanotechnology researchers on the CMU campus.

T.V. Moorthy, Bio-ID Diagnostic Inc. president and chief executive officer, said CMU’s research environment was a key factor in the decision.

"There is some exciting work being done in the field of dendrimer nanotechnology on the campus of Central Michigan University," said Moorthy. "We’re confident we can leverage that technology in a way that will yield some very positive results."

... Bio-ID collaborated with local researchers in a nanotechnology research initiative funded through U.S. Department of Defense appropriations totaling $5.9 million over the past two years. CMU, in partnership with the CMU Research Corp. and Mount Pleasant-based Dendritic NanoTechnologies Inc., has been designated as a Dendritic Nanotechnology Center of Excellence by the U.S. Army Research Labs.

Moorthy’s arrival on campus reflects the central Michigan region’s growing reputation in the field of nanotechnology, said James Hageman, CMU Research Corp. interim CEO. More here